25th Infantry Division Bologna
Regno d'Italia Kingdom of Italy |allegiance= |branch= Regio Esercito Royal Italian Army |type=Infantry |role= infantry |garrison= Naples |size= Division |command_structure=Italian XXI Infantry Corps |Past Commanders= |nickname= Bologna |battles= World War II |decorations= }} The 25th Infantry Division Bologna (Italian: 25 Divisione Autotrasportabile "Bologna") was an Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was stationed in Tripolitania and was sent to Libya for the Italian invasion of Egypt. It fought in North Africa until it was destroyed in the Second Battle of El Alamein. Garrisoned in Naples, it was made up almost entirely of residents of the city. Order of battle *39 Bologna Infantry Regiment *40 Bologna Infantry Regiment *205 Artillery Regiment *4 Anti-Aircraft Battery *437 Anti-Aircraft Battery *25 Engineer Battalion *7 Carabinieri Company *135 Motorized Transport Company *96 Field Hospital *528 Field Hospital *66 Surgical Unit *308 Field Ambulance Siege of Tobruk The besieging troops were mainly Italian belonging to the following five Divisions: the Ariete Division and Trieste (the XX Motorised Corps), the Pavia, Bologna, and Brescia Division (the XXI Infantry Corps). The sector manned by the Bologna consisted of several strongpoints manned by infantry and artillery units, all surrounded by minefields. The Italians, after much hard fighting, had possession of most of the positions the Australians had lost on 1 May. Combat engineers under Lieutenant Francesco Tuci, had reportedly captured several of the Australian positions, and the officer was posthumously awarded the Medaglia d'Argento (the Silver Medal), Italy's second highest award for bravery, in helping defend them against an Australian counterattack.Takfír: Cronaca dell'ultima Battaglia di Alamein, Paolo Caccia Dominioni de Sillavengo, Giuseppe Izzo, p. 18, Ugo Mursia Editore, 1967 On 3 May, the Australians launched a counter-attack employing the 18th Brigade but by 4 May were only able to recapture one bunker from defending Italian troops.That magnificent 9th: An Illustrated History of The 9th Australian Division, Mark Johnston, p. 38, Allen and Unwin, 2002 During that week, Australian morale took a dive, and it was reported that 30 Australian soldiers shot themselves in order to be evacuated."In one five-day period in early May 1941, after the second major German assault on the Red Line, medical units treated 30 cases of self-inflicted bullet wounds." A Medical Emergency: Major-General 'Ginger' Burston and the Army Medical Service in World War II, Ian Howie-Willis, p. 187, Big Sky Publishing, 2012"More disturbing was the large number of self-inflicted wound (SIW) cases. During a single week in May the division reported thirty SIW cases..." Armies of Empire: The 9th Australian and 50th British Divisions in Battle 1939–1945, Allan Converse, p. 86, Cambridge University Press, 2011 That month, an underground 'war neurosis clinic' was built in Tobruk and placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel E.L. Cooper and Captain A.J.M Sinclair, and 207 soldiers were admitted for treatment."In May 1941 a 'war neurosis clinic' of 70 beds was established in an underground concrete shelter in the city. Of the 204 admissions treated by Lt Colonel E.L. Cooper and Captain A.J.M Sinclair 61% were reported as serving with fighting units..." Shell Shock to PTSD: Military Psychiatry from 1900 to the Gulf War, Edgar Jones, Simon Wessely, p. 67, Psychology Press, 2005 On 21 November 1941, the Bologna repulsed a British attempt to approach their positions as part of Operation Crusader. That morning, the division was attacked by British forces (2nd/King’s Own, 2nd/Black Watch, 2nd/Queen’s and 4th RTR with Matilda tanks) and the attackers overran part of the Bologna, but the attacks were largely defeated by the Italian division''"The front was a series of strongpoints and not continuous trench lines. One was the Tugun position held by the Bologna infantry division, anything but an elite formation. The New Zealand Official History states, "The more elaborate attack on Tugun went in at 3 p.m. and gained perhaps half the position, together with 250 Italians and many light field guns; but the Italians in the western half could not be dislodged and the base of the break-out area remained on this account uncomfortably narrow." The Official History goes on to comment on the "...strong Italian opposition at Tugun as part of the reason for the decision to halt the sortie at this time."'' Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940-November 1942, Page 110, Jack Greene & Alessandro Massignani, (Combined Books, 1994) In summing up the experience of the 2nd Battalion the Black Watch in the attack, the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War wrote that On 23 November, the Bologna Division again withstood a determined attack from Tobruk aimed at penetrating into the area of Sidi Rezegh, and bought sufficient time to allow the Pavia Division to mount a counter-attack and defeat the British assault, as a German narrative recorded:Toppe, p. A-8-8 The Bologna's '' front now extended some 8 miles, and on November 25, the thinly spread-out division was assaulted by 50 British tanks and forced to withdraw some distance, although not before the German Böttcher Group had inflicted severe losses on the British tanks. The British advance was finally halted by the timely arrival of reinforcements in the form of a Bersaglieri battalion of the ''Trieste Division.The Bologna Division: 19 November – 10 December, 1941 By David Aldea & Joseph Peluso, Comando Supremo: Italy at War."When the New Zealanders attacked again after the onset of darkness, they were able to take Balhamed in the course of the night. Early in the morning of 26 November, a portion of the Tobruk garrison, supported by 50 tanks, broke out once again. A crisis arose when El Duda fell. It was only through a bitter and bravely conducted immediate counterattack by the Bersaglieri of the Trieste Division that the positions in the north could be held." Das Afrika Korps: Erwin Rommel and the Germans in Africa, 1941-43, By Franz Kurowski, pg. 117, Stackpole Books (March 2010) The Bologna's defenders were gradually pushed back to the "Leopard strongpoint", covering their retreat with mines and machine-gun nests, but by the end of the month the Tobruk breakout was judged a success among British commanders. Despite the German 90th Light Division pulling out of the Tobruk sector on 4 December,The rise of the Wehrmacht: the German Armed forces and World War II, Volume 1, 1941-43, By Samuel W. Mitcham, pg. 552, Praeger (30 June 2008) the Bologna Division held out until the night of 8–9 December when trucks were finally assigned to give them some support. However, it was to take a further assault led by the Polish Carpathian Brigade (SBSK), supported by tanks and artillery, before the siege of Tobruk was finally lifted on the morning of December 10. An Australian historian, when writing about the Italian role during Operation Crusader, concluded that: The Alamein Battles In July 1942, the Bologna Division was summoned from Gazala to reinforce the Alamein front, lacking vehicles, the division was forced to march some 400 miles, being reviewed by Mussolini on the way. On the night of 25–26 August, the Bologna came under heavy artillery attack and the New Zealand 28th Battalion, under the cover of darkness, breached part of the perimeter, but the New Zealanders lost 25 killed, wounded and captured in the action. The attacking Maoris later reported that there were 100 Italian, dead, wounded or captured during the attack. During the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the'' Bologna'' and German 433rd Infantry Regiment attacked several Indian, South African and New Zealand units on Ruweisat Ridge, and managed to capture Point 211 with the Italians reported to have captured 70 British soldiers,ROMMEL OPENS DRIVE IN EGYPT but the attackers were later driven back by counterattack.German Attack at El Alamein: August 31-September 5, 1942" from Tactical and Technical Trends Cyril Falls, a noted military historian, later wrote an article about the Italo-German counterattack: In the centre of the British front a good Italian division, the Bologna, delivered a strong attack on the Ruweisat Ridge, and a considerable counter-attack was required to expel it from the footing it gained.AFTERMATH OF WAR: THE EIGHT ARMY FROM ALAMEIN TO THE SANGRO. The illustrated London news, Volume 212, Issues 5672-5684, p. 262, The Illustrated London News & Sketch Ltd., 1948 On the morning of 23 October 1942, Generalleutnant Georg Stumme personally presented German decorations to a number of members of the Bologna division and attached engineers."General Stumme spent the morning presentinng German decorations to some Italians of the Bologna infantry division and an engineering battalion." Alamein, Stephen Bungay, p. ? Aurum Press, 2013 In the first attack on Ruweisat Ridge, during the Second Battle of Alamein, the Bologna Division supported by two battalions of the German Ramcke Parachute Brigade achieved some success, taking 40 prisoners. Private Sid Martindale, 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, wrote about 25th Bologna Infantry Division, which had taken the full weight of the British armoured attack: }}The Bologna and the remainder of Trento Division tried to fight their way out of Alamein and marched in the desert without water, food, or transport before surrendering exhausted and dying from dehydration.Watson (2007), p.27 It was reported that Colonel Dall'Olio, commanding Bologna, surrendered saying, "We have ceased firing not because we haven't the desire but because we have spent every round." In a symbolic act of final defiance no one in Bologna Division raised their hands. Harry Zinder of Time magazine noted that the Italians fought better than had been expected, and commented that for the Italians: light. But even that was denied them. When it became obvious to Rommel that there would be little chance to hold anything between El Daba and the frontier, his Panzers dissolved, disintegrated and turned tail, leaving the Italians to fight a rear-guard action. }} Notes ;Footnotes ;Citations * * Category:Infantry divisions of Italy in World War II Category:Infantry divisions of Italy Category:Military units and formations established in 1926 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1943